Ecuador Expected To Turn Assange Over To the US, Former President Correa Says

Ecuadorian government is likely to hand over Wikileaks founder

The Ecuadorian government is likely to hand over Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to Washington DC, despite them being legally obliged to protect him, Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa has said.

“I believe they are going to turn over Assange to the US government,” Correa said.

“The Ecuadorian state has to protect Assange’s rights; he is not just an asylum [seeker]; he is a citizen,” Correa added.

Assange is now meant to be protected by the Ecuadorian constitution, but it seems the government is desperate to please Washington.

According to RT: The WikiLeaks co-founder might be a bargaining chip in an arrangement between the Ecuadorian authorities and US Vice President Mike Pence, who visited the Latin American country and met with President Lenin Moreno earlier this year.

Quito’s behavior shows that it has “absolutely submitted” to Washington without actually earning any favor, Correa said.

His comments came a week after two US lawmakers called on Moreno to “hand Assange over to the proper authorities,” calling him “a dangerous criminal and a threat to global security.”

In the letter, representatives Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) spoke about the US willingness “to move forward in collaborating” with Moreno’s government, mulling enhanced economic cooperation and development aid from the US.

They portrayed Assange as an obstruction on the way to a bright future together for the two nations.

NEW: Ahead of midterms, ranking Democrat, but not Republican, of House Foreign Relations Committee pressures Ecuador's president @Lenin to hand over @WikiLeaks' publisher @JulianAssange "A dangerous criminal and a threat to global security"